Since the General Assembly of Missouri kept demanding it and the Committee on Private Land Claims in the U. S. Senate had recommended it in 1828, Congress passed the Act of July 9, 1832, chapter 180, An Act for the final adjustment of private land claims in Missouri (U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 4, pg 565). The President of the United States was to appoint two commissioners to join the recorder of land titles in Missouri in examining all the unconfirmed private claims that had already been filed in the recorder’s office. The examination was limited to those claims founded upon any incomplete grant, concession, warrant or order of survey that had been issued by the authority of France or Spain prior to March 10, 1804. They were permitted to receive additional testimony, but it had to be taken within twelve months of the passage of the act.
The recorder and commissioners were to segregate the claims examined into two classes. The first class was to include those claims that they believed would have been confirmed according to the laws, usages and customs of the Spanish government and the practice of the Spanish authorities at New Orleans, if the government under which those claims originated had continued in Missouri. The second class was to include those claims that they believed were destitute of merit, in law or equity, under the same laws, usages, customs and practice of the Spanish authorities. They were also to provide an explanation of their reasoning in each case.
Once this second board of commissioners had organized, the office of the recorder was to be open for the purposes of the examination for two years and no longer. They were to proceed in a summary manner, with or without any new application from the claimants. During the term of their examination and at the commencement of each session of Congress, they were to send a report to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, detailing their opinions on the claims so far examined. The report would be forwarded to Congress for the final decision upon the claims of the first class.
After the final report was submitted by the recorder and commissioners, those claims falling into the second class, being destitute of merit, were to be subject to sale along with the other public lands. Those claims falling into the first class were to be further reserved from sale until Congress rendered a final decision. Any claim that was ultimately rejected by Congress was subject to sale along with the other public lands. An actual settler whose claim was ultimately rejected or any claimant who chose to waive his claim was granted the right of pre-emption to the land encompassing the improvements up to the quantity of their claim, but not exceeding 640 acres.
Andrew Jackson, President of the United States, nominated Doctor Lewis F. Linn of Sainte Genevieve, Missouri and Wilkins Updyke of Rhode Island to serve as commissioners with recorder of land titles Frederick R. Conway. The U.S. Senate confirmed the appointments of Linn and Updyke on July 14, 1832 (Senate Executive Journal, Vol. 4, pg 277). The second board of commissioners was organized on October 1, 1832 (ASP:PL Vol. 8, pg 923), but Updyke resigned shortly thereafter, leaving Conway and Linn to continue taking testimony until a replacement could be confirmed. To further hinder the board’s progress, the Asiatic cholera swept into Missouri, so that many claimants and witnesses were unable to appear before the board to present their testimony. Thus, no report could be made the first year (ASP:PL Vol. 8, pg 22).
On November 19, 1832 recorder Conway and commissioner Linn wrote to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, recommending that the Act of July 9, 1832, chapter 180, be amended in two ways so as to accomplish a truly final settlement of all the claims that could possibly be brought forward. First, they believed that the act should be extended to include claims founded on written grants, concessions, warrants or orders of survey that had not previously been filed in the office of the recorder of land titles, but which might have been submitted to the district court of the United States for Missouri. Second, they believed the act should be extended to include claims based on settlement and cultivation that had previously been submitted and rejected under other acts of Congress (ASP:PL Vol. 6, pg 516).
Congress responded by passing the Act of March 2, 1833, chapter 84, An Act supplemental to the act entitled “An act for the final adjustment of land claims in Missouri” (U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 4, pg 661), extending the provisions and restrictions of the previous act to every claim based on settlement and cultivation. Additional testimony for these claims was allowed to be taken for two years from the date of the original act.
President Jackson nominated Albert G. Harrison of Missouri on December 31, 1832 to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Wilkins Updyke. The U.S. Senate confirmed the appointment of Harrison on January 8, 1833 (Senate Executive Journal, Vol. 4, pg 291, 296).
Before commencing examination of the claims before them, Conway, Linn and Harrison resolved to settle the general principles that would serve as a guide for the decisions they were to make. They reviewed all of the pertinent Acts of Congress, consulted the available compilations of French and Spanish laws and considered the decisions of the United States Supreme Court that had been made up to that time (ASP:PL Vol. 6, pg 703).
On October 30, 1833 they passed a resolution adopting the following guiding principles (ASP:PL Vol. 6, pg 710):
1st. That it was the custom of both France and Spain, and formed a part of the policy of those nations in the settling of new countries, to appoint officers, whose business it was, by express regulations, to grant lands to all such of their subjects as might wish to settle in those countries, for the avowed purposes of improving and populating said countries.
2d. That all acts in relation to grants, concessions, warrants, and orders of survey, done and performed by the French and Spanish officers during the time those governments had possession of and exercised the sovereignty over the province of Upper Louisiana, ought to be considered as prima facie evidence of their right to do those acts and perform those duties, and ought to be held and considered binding on the government of the United States, inasmuch as the acts of the officers in said province were not only tolerated but approved by their superiors in power.
3d. That all grants, concessions, warrants, or orders of survey, made and issued by the French or Spanish officers in the late province of Upper Louisiana on or before the 10th day of March, 1804, where the same are not proved to be fraudulent, ought to be confirmed, provided the conditions annexed to the grant have been complied with, or a satisfactory reason given for not fulfilling the same.
4th. That O’Reily’s instructions or regulations of 18th February, 1770, those of Gayoso of 9th September, 1797, and those of Morales of 17th July, 1799, were not in force in Upper Louisiana, except, perhaps, the provisions contained in those of Gayoso, which related to new settlers.
5th. That sub-delegates, in making grants, &c., were not limited by any known law or custom as to the quantity of arpents they should grant, except, perhaps, as to new settlers, and that such grants passed title, and that a survey was merely an incidental matter after the title had passed by the grant, so as to identify the land, that the grantee might take possession of it.
6th. That what are called incomplete grants by the custom and practice of the country were recognized as property capable of passing by devise, transferable from one to another, and were liable to be sold for debt.
7th. That those grants which are general in their terms pass as good a title as those which are more special, the difference being in the description of the land, and not in the title.
8th. That those officers of the French and Spanish governments whose names are signed to concessions must be presumed to have acted agreeably to powers vested in them by their sovereign, and that their acts are accordingly legal until the contrary is shown.
9th. That fraud is an affirmative charge, and, as relates to the French and Spanish claims, as well as in all other cases, must be proved, and not presumed.
10th. That in all cases where there are conditions to a grant, &c., if the grantee shows satisfactorily that he has been prevented from a fulfillment of the conditions by the act of God, by the act of law, by the enemies of the country, or by the act of the party making the grant, or any other sufficient cause, the grantee will be considered as absolved from the performance of the same, and the grant regarded as absolute.
The second board of commissioners submitted their first report of claims of the first class, dated November 27, 1833, to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, who then forwarded the report to the U.S. Senate on January 18, 1834 (ASP:PL Vol. 6, pg 703). The report contained decisions numbered 1 through 142 that the recorder and commissioners recommended for confirmation.
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| David Delaunay's claim to 800 arpents was recommended for confirmation by the second board of commissioners as Decision No. 5 of the first class. When surveyed as General Series Survey No. 3128 in Township 41 North, Range 3 East, it was found to interfere with settlement claims previously confirmed by the board of revision. Parts of it had also already been sold by the United States government as indicated by the red letter "S". (courtesy of the Missouri State Land Survey) |
In June 1833 Alexander Buckner, U. S. Senator for Missouri, along with his wife succumbed to the cholera and died. Missouri Governor Daniel Dunklin appointed Dr. Linn to fill the vacancy (Linn and Sargent, pg 78, 129). By the time the first report of the second board of commissioners was submitted to Congress, Dr. Linn had already joined the U. S. Senate. Dr. Linn would eventually end up on the Committee for Private Land Claims.
Albert Harrison resigned as commissioner to the second board and was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives. The second board then having two vacancies could not proceed with its business until those vacancies were filled.
President Jackson nominated James S. Mayfield on February 3, 1834 to replace Dr. Linn (Senate Executive Journal, Vol. 4, pg 347) and he nominated Dr. James H. Relfe on April 8, 1834 to replace Harrison (Senate Executive Journal, Vol. 4, pg 390). The nomination of Mayfield was referred to the Committee on Public Lands in the U. S. Senate and was not approved until April 24, 1834 (Senate Executive Journal, Vol. 4, pg 392). Relfe was approved by the Senate on May 1, 1834 (Senate Executive Journal, Vol. 4, pg 398).
The next iteration of the second board of commissioners with Conway, Mayfield and Relfe resumed the examination of land claims in June 1834. They submitted the second report of claims of the first class, dated December 5, 1834, to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, who then forwarded the report to the U.S. Senate on January 7, 1835 (ASP:PL Vol. 7, pg 773). The report contained decisions numbered 143 through 255 (113 claims) that the recorder and commissioners recommended for confirmation.
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| John Hand's claim to 300 arpents and John Taylor's claim to 481 acres 8 poles were recommended for confirmation by the second board of commissioners as Decision Nos. 214 and 281, respectively, of the first class. When surveyed as General Series Survey Nos. 3148 and 3147 in Township 31 North, Range 13 East, they were found to interfere with the settlement claim of William Hand, which had been previously confirmed by the Act of April 29, 1816. Part of Survey No. 3148 had already been sold by the United States government as indicated by the red letter "S". (courtesy of the Missouri State Land Survey) |
At some point early in 1835 James Mayfield was removed from the second board of commissioners. President Jackson nominated Falkland H. Martin on March 3, 1835 to replace him and the U. S. Senate approved the appointment the same day (Senate Executive Journal, Vol. 4, pg 483, 484).
The board was approaching a deadline set by the Act of July 9, 1832, chapter 180, so recorder Conway and commissioner Relfe continued the examination of claims until Martin joined them sometime around August 1835. The final reports of the second board of commissioners, dated September 30, 1835, were sent to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, who then forwarded the reports to the U.S. Senate on December 10, 1835 (ASP:PL Vol. 8, pg 20). The third report of claims of the first class contained decisions numbered 256 through 345 (90 claims) that the recorder and commissioners recommended for confirmation. The report of claims of the second class, being claims considered destitute of merit, contained decisions numbered 1 through 152.
The board further reported that they were not able to complete the investigation of all the claims that they were authorized to examine. There were about seven hundred (700) claims in the State of Missouri that remained unexamined. The board earnestly recommended to Congress that the investigations should continue until the business was finally completed. If Congress should pass an act for that purpose, the board estimated that the work could be completed in another two years (ASP:PL Vol. 8, pg 22).
Congress scrutinized the reports of the recorder and commissioners, particularly questioning the validity of the principles used by them in making their determinations. Congress requested opinions and arguments from the Secretary of the Treasury and the Commissioner of the General Land Office, who further called upon the Attorney General of the United States, who deferred to the legal counsel for the United States that had been arguing the similar cases from Florida in the United States Supreme Court (ASP:PL Vol. 7, pg 581, Vol. 8, pg 789). A thorough examination of the facts was pursued.
When Congress was finally satisfied, they passed the Act of July 4, 1836, chapter 361, An Act confirming claims to land in the State of Missouri, and for other purposes (U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 5, pg 126). This act confirmed all of the claims recommended for approval by the recorder and commissioners. However, twenty-nine (29) claims were explicitly excluded from confirmation. Any adverse claimants were reserved the right to assert the validity of their claims in a court or courts of justice.
By that time it was entirely possible that all or part of the lands confirmed by this act had already been sold or claimed by someone else under some other law of the United States. If that was the case, no title was conferred by this act to those lands. An equivalent amount of land was permitted to be located on any unappropriated land of the United States within the same state or territory. The new locations were to conform to legal divisions and subdivisions.
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| Francois Normandeau's claim to 2500 arpents was recommended for confirmation by the second board of commissioners as Decision No. 97 of the first class. When surveyed as General Series Survey No. 3239 in Township 56 North, Range 5 West, it was found to interfere with the claim of Mathurin Bouvet and Charles Gratiot. Nearly all of it had already been sold by the United States government as indicated by the red letter "S". (courtesy of the Missouri State Land Survey) |
SOURCES
American State Papers: Public Lands (ASP:PL)
Linn, E. A. and Sargent, N., The Life and Public Services of Dr. Lewis F. Linn, for Ten Years a Senator of the United States from the State of Missouri, 1857
Senate Executive Journal
U. S. Statutes at Large
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original composition by Steven E. Weible
